Trick Question
by Symee-Sama
Summary: “I love you.” He whispered an instant before he slid to the floor. Relena was motionless. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe. She tumbled to the floor, hoping that she was dying too so she could be with him.


Trick Question

By Symee-Sama

Silence reigned. It was almost as if the world were afraid to make a single noise that would disturb the occupants of the grove. Knee-high grasses swayed in the gentle wind, the first rays of the sun peeking out from the horizon, and the grove stirred.

Birds shook the dew from their wings, their cheerful songs greeting the new day, and the grove came to life. The world was waking, but one remained sleeping, shivering in the cool morning air.

"Heero..." she muttered, reaching out a hand to the man who haunted her nights, before twisting slightly and surrendering to her nightmares.

. . . . .

_What the hell does she think she's doing? _He thought as he made his way across the grassy fields. _How am I supposed to protect her if she doesn't stay where she's safe?_ Guilt plagued him. He could blame her as much as he wanted to, but he knew what had caused her to run away.

Him.

He never should have asked her. He never should have presumed that she was ready for this kind of step. But... Damn it! It had seemed so right. He wouldn't call himself a romantic, but it had seemed like a good time. They had been together for so long now. It had been five years, yesterday, and he had been ready for something more. He had been ready for a family.

Everything had been perfect. He had asked Quatre for help with the preparations; roses, a candlelit dinner, and dancing. Everything had been perfect. Until he had asked her. The instant that the words left his mouth, her smile had slid off of her face. Pain had clouded her eyes, and her shoulders had shaken with silent sobs.

"Damn it all!" He cursed, pausing to catch his breath before he continued looking for her. "Why doesn't she want me?"

When she had finally let the tears flow, he had almost wished that he had died in the war. That he had been killed by some faceless enemy, so he would never have to cause her pain. He had offered her his hand, escorting her back to her home, and remaining stoically silent the entire time. He didn't want to upset her anymore than she already had been. He had apologised. She had accepted his apology, assuring him that she would be fine. He had kissed her; she had told him that she loved him.

But he couldn't bring himself to believe her words. If she loved him, why didn't she want him? Why had she turned him away when he had offered her his heart and his life?

He was getting angry again, and resumed his search to alleviate some of his frustration. He was beginning to doubt that she had ever loved him at all. Had he wasted five years, only to find that the woman that he had fallen for didn't love him? He couldn't bear the thought of it.

She had to love him. She just had to. With these thoughts in mind, he trudged to a secluded spot that she had shown him months before. She had called it her retreat, and whenever she had problems that seemed too big to be solved, she would come here.

This was the last place that she could be. He gritted his teeth and regained his composure as best he could. It wouldn't do to spend all this time looking for her only to get angry and frighten her off again. He tried counting backwards from ten, but he couldn't seem to control the anger that was rising within him. He wasn't angry with her. Not really.

No. He was angry at the situation that had brought them here. He was angry with himself for pressuring her into a decision that she obviously wasn't ready to make. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the tiny secluded grove.

She wasn't there.

That did it. He was tired, frustrated, and god damn it, he was in love. This was the last place that she could be, and she wasn't here. He stalked over to a huge ash tree, planning to take out some of his pent up anger on it, when he heard a noise.

He looked up, smiling slightly at the inanity of the situation. He had proposed to her, and she had fled from him to spend the night in a grove. And of course, she couldn't find a normal place to sleep. No. She had to choose the most impractical place possible.

Letting out a sigh, he stripped off his jacket, and grabbed a branch near him, hauling himself off the ground. Who, but Relena would think of sleeping in a tree? He reached her easily, for she hadn't bothered to climb too far, and shook her gently.

"Relena..." He whispered, keeping his hand on her arm to steady her. "Wake up." She stirred slowly, rubbing sleep from her eyes while he made sure that she wouldn't fall out of the tree. "You chose an interesting place to sleep, Relena." He said quietly, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

She stared at him with eyes that were still adjusting to the light, and when she spoke, her voice was slurred with sleep. "Heero?" She winced as his grip tightened. Not saying a word, he pulled her from her perch, and leapt nimbly to the ground.

"I'm sorry." She whispered into his shoulder as he set her on the ground. "I didn't mean it. I really didn't." He pushed her away slightly, holding her at arms length, and shaking his head. "It just slipped out. I didn't mean it." She insisted, but he shook his head again.

"I wish that I could believe you." He said gruffly, refusing to let her move closer to him. "I'm not him, Relena, and I never will be." How many years had to pass before they could lay his ghost to rest? "I really did believe what you said." He swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat, but found that he couldn't. "I believed you when you told me that you loved me."

"I do love you, Duo." He could hear the frustration in her voice too, and for a moment, he felt a wave of pity wash over him. Then it was gone, overwhelmed by bitterness and regret. He had faced his demons, and learned that mourning a love wouldn't bring them back. Why couldn't she?

"As a friend." He retorted, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice. "That's why you turned me down last night."

Relena shook her head. "Not as a friend. As more." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "As much more actually, but I couldn't accept it. I wanted to, but... it's too soon. I'm not ready for..." She turned away from him, unable to find the right words when he was looking at her. Every time she tried to think, she would get lost in his eyes. "It's just too soon." She finished weakly.

To give her credit, she didn't flinch when he grabbed her shoulders again, and forced her to face him again. "Too soon?" He asked incredulously. "How could it possibly be too soon? Relena... We've been dating for five years, and he died seven years ago. It's time to move on."

Relena struggled in his grip. "Let me go." She demanded, and when he didn't loosen his grip, she let her temper take control of her. "I won't move on." Her words tore at him. "I will always love him, and nothing that you say will change that." He opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off with a glare and words that that she knew would drive him away. "It would be much easier if I could forget Heero as easily as you forgot Hilde."

He pushed her away, hurt that she would suggest that he had forgotten the beautiful, pixyish girl who had first stolen his heart. "I've never forgotten her." He said calmly, but she could hear the anger under his calm tone. "And I never will, but unlike you, I've decided to move on. I know that she wouldn't want me to throw away my life because she's not here anymore. Don't you think that Heero would feel the same way?"

It had been an innocent question, and he was surprised to see hurt flare up in her eyes. "Just leave me alone. I don't want you here anymore." She turned her back to him, and climbed the tree again. It was a childish way to end the argument. She knew that, but she didn't want to fight with him anymore.

"Running away doesn't solve things, Relena." He called up, still managing to keep his voice calm. After all, he wasn't really angry with her. Just tired. Tired of sharing her. Tired of competing with Heero's memory. "You won't be able to get rid of me that easily."

She remained silent, pretending that she couldn't hear his words, and didn't relax until she heard his departing footprints. Why couldn't he understand? She had watched him die. She had seen the look of betrayal in his eyes. How could she marry his murderer?

She closed her eyes, refusing to let the tears fall. She shouldn't even have considered Duo's offer. He had killed him. Damn it! How could she have even thought about his offer? How could she possibly think about spending the rest of her life with the man who had murdered her fiancé?

_It was an accident._ A small part of her whispered. _Duo was unstable, and Heero was in the wrong place._

She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. Duo shouldn't have been sent on that mission. He wasn't in stable condition. Why hadn't anyone thought of that? Hilde had just died, and he was depressed. Why didn't anyone see it?

If she had just paid more attention to Duo... It had seemed like he was fine. He was smiling, joking, and laughing, just like he always did, but there was something wrong. Relena had known it, but she had chosen to ignore it.

She sighed again. _Hindsight is wonderful._ She thought miserably. _Only useful after everything had happened. It's only useful when it's too late to change anything._

The mission had gone as planned, but when it was over, Duo was nowhere to be found. All he did was report that he had done his part, and then he'd turned his radio off. Heero had gone to look for him. She had insisted to go with him. Why had she done that?

They had found Duo on the floor of an empty hallway, staring into space. He'd looked at her in disbelief.

"_Hilde?" Duo's eyes were wide as if he was seeing a ghost. "I buried you. You're dead." He took a step towards Relena, and she stepped away from him. "What are you afraid of?" He asked, his hands trembling, and his eyes wild. _

"_Duo," Relena began softly. "I'm not Hilde." She looked to Heero for support and he nodded. "It's Relena."_

"_Don't lie to me!" He snapped irritably, raising the gun. "Don't fucking lie to me. Not after all this time."_

"_Think about what you're saying, Duo." Heero tensed, ready to protect Relena if it became necessary. "This is Relena. Hilde died two months ago." Duo flinched at his blunt words. "Don't you remember the car accident?"_

"_Stop lying!" Duo yelled, and suddenly, Relena was very afraid. She had never seen him like this. She had never seen him so full of hate, anger and... sadness. He looked like he had lost everything that he lived for. "Hilde's lied to me already. I don't need you lying too!" He looked helplessly at Relena. "You said that you'd be back. You promised me that you would come back." Tears were streaming down his face now. "Why'd you lie to me?" _

"_She isn't Hilde." Heero said, eyeing Duo's raised gun warily. "Hilde's dead." Duo shook his head violently. _

"_She's right there!" Duo accented each word with a wave of the gun. Relena blinked, and suddenly, Heero was standing in front of her, his arms wrapped around her in a fierce hug. His breathing was harsh, and she could feel his blood running between them_

"_I love you." He whispered an instant before he slid to the floor. Relena was motionless. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe. She tumbled to the floor, lying beside Heero, hoping that she was dying too so she could be with him._

_The last thing she heard was Duo's voice. "Oh God. What have I done?" He cried. "What have I done?" She heard him fall to his knees, and then, everything went black._

Relena had composed herself by the time she walked into her office, and found Duo waiting there. She still wasn't ready to make her decision. It had been an accident, he hadn't meant to shoot Heero. But he was the reason that Heero was gone.

"What do I have to do today?" She asked him as she sat down behind her desk.

"All right," Duo began, flipping through some papers. "A L4 delegate wants to meet with you for lunch to discuss new plans for the colony."

"That's fine." Relena murmured absently.

"The CEO of Winner Industries wishes to meet with you in the afternoon."

"All right."

"And I want you to marry me."

"Okay." Relena stiffened, realising what she had just said. "Duo, I thought we went over this already."

"Just hear me out." Duo cut in. "I love you, Relena, and you admitted that you feel the same way for me, but the way we're going, we're never going to be together." She opened her mouth to comment, but he cut her off again. "I want you to marry me, but we can't do it unless we talk about _it_."

"I don't want to." Relena said angrily. "Why should we?"

"Because, you'll never be able to move on unless we talk about it. I killed him." He closed his eyes for a moment. "I didn't mean to, but I was depressed and delusional. I thought you were Hilde, and I was angry that you kept denying it. I thought the safety was on, so I waved it around, not being careful with it, and-" His voice broke. "I killed my best friend."

"I don't want to forget him." Relena's voice was barely above a whisper. "I don't want to forget him, Duo."

"I never wanted you to forget him," Duo knelt beside her. "But I don't want you living in the past either. He haunts you, Relena, and it's time to let him go."

She kissed him on the cheek. "I'll try." She said softly, and gripped Duo's hand tightly, knowing that he would be there to help her find her way.

Author's Note: I know that the title doesn't really have anything to do with the story, but when I started writing this, I was going to focus on the part where Duo tricks Relena into saying yes. It didn't exactly work out that way. It ended up being more angst than romance, but I couldn't think of a different title. I hope you liked it.

Symee


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